56 BRITISH BIRDS. 



corn, or it might indeed be only one ; and the energy 

 with which an intruder was assailed. 



Tender and vigilant, indeed, is the care which the 

 hen displays in watching over her young. She provides 

 for them with unwearied diligence ; she guards them 

 from the attacks of their enemies with unceasing jea- 

 lousy ; she gives the alarm on the least appearance of 

 danger, evincing, at the same time, a fearless intrepidity 

 in their defence ; and, with kind affection, she gathers 

 them under her wing, and cherishes them with the 

 genial warmth she is prepared to yield. 



Such is the allusion in the words of our Lord: — " O 

 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and 

 stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would 

 I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen 

 gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would 

 not ! " The term used by the evangelists in recording 

 this touching lamentation, originally signified a bird of 

 any kind ; but its meaning became contracted in the 

 progress of language, till it was appropriated to the 

 household fowl. The propriety of this cannot be dis- 

 puted. The gathering of the brood by this bird led the 

 Arabian writers to call her emphatically, " the mother 

 of the congregation :" and among all the feathered tribes 



